The total number and proportion of people with suspected rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis who were diagnosed and managed according to the National Institute for Care and Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard in each of the last five years is not available.<\/p>
The National Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit report, commissioned on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) assesses the quality of care by specialist rheumatology services in England and Wales using criteria derived from sources such as the NICE Quality Standard on rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The audit includes patients with: RA, psoriatic arthritis; spondyloarthropathy with peripheral arthritis; and undifferentiated arthritis. Key findings from the second annual report of the audit published in July 2016, found that:<\/p>
- 95% of patients agreed that they had a good experience of care, up from 78% in year one of the audit;<\/p>
- 20% people with suspected persistent synovitis affecting the small joints of the hands or feet, or more than one joint, are referred to a rheumatology service within three working days of presentation (Quality Standard 1) and this is essentially unchanged from year one of the audit;<\/p>
- 37% of patients were seen by a rheumatology service within three weeks of referral (Quality Standard 2) and this is essentially unchanged from year one of the audit; and<\/p>
- 68% of patients received disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs within six weeks of referral (NICE Quality Standard 3), up from 53% in year one of the audit.<\/p>
The audit is an important tool that helps commissioners and providers to scrutinise local services, highlight variation and drive improvement. The audit report makes a range of recommendations, including that local services improve training and awareness and amongst general practitioners (GP). Furthermore, in addition to the RA audit, the National Hip Fracture Audit, also commissioned by HQIP, is another way in which services for patients with Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions are assessed in terms of timeliness and quality. Reports from both of the arthritis audits and the most recent hip fracture audit can be found at the following links:<\/p>
www.hqip.org.uk/resources/national-clinical-audit-for-rheumatoid-and-early-and-inflammatory-arthritis-annual-report-2015/<\/a><\/p> www.hqip.org.uk/resources/rheumatoid-and-early-inflammatory-arthritis-2016/<\/a><\/p>